Jeff Howe

The Longhorns will go for the series win over the Tigers after last night's 6-3 win. The game will be streamed live on SEC Network Plus. Texas enters the game alone in second place in the SEC standings with a clear path to one of the four double byes in the SEC Tournament. Three critical games — Texas A&M hosting Mississippi State, Alabama hosting Ole Miss and Auburn hosting Georgia — will be in progress when the Longhorns start. The Mississippi State, Alabama and Georgia won their respective season openers last night and are going for series wins.

Somewhere between Helm and David Thomas. David Thomas is one of the most underrated Texas players of my lifetime. He's the gold standard for Texas tight ends.

The commitment of Brock Williams to Texas on Friday gives Steve Sarkisian the most complete tight end prospect he’s recruited during his time on the Forty Acres. If that sounds out of pocket, consider that Sarkisian inherited Gunnar Helm and Ja’Tavion Sanders from the previous staff, as both signed with the Longhorns a few weeks before Sarkisian was hired. Jeff Banks deserves credit for developing them into productive players who went on to become NFL draft picks, but Helm and Sanders needed time to develop and weren’t ready to contribute the way the staff needed them to from the jump. That shouldn't be the case with the 6-foot-5-inch, 230-pound Williams. Whereas Helm joined the Longhorns as a raw prospect and Sanders had to learn to play with his hand on the ground, Williams will arrive at Texas as an accomplished receiver who won’t have to learn a new position. Since Michael Masunas entered the program with one season of eligibility remaining, the Longhorns needed to land a tight end with instant impact potential in the 2027 cycle. Williams could join a room in which Spencer Shannon, Nick Townsend (a tremendous athlete with a ton of potential if he can put it all together) and Emaree Winston make it tough for him to break into the rotation, or he could be in the position Jermaine Bishop and Derrek Cooper found themselves in this spring, as true freshmen who seized opportunities to start working toward a solidified role. Townsend is as physically gifted as any player at any position in the program. Still, Townsend wasn’t as polished as a tight end coming out of Spring Dekaney as Williams will be after his time at Libertyville (Ill.) is finished and he makes his way to Austin, which means a lot to the Texas offense in 2027 and beyond. Sarkisian, who has said time and again that the tight end position is the most important part of his offense other than the quarterback, and Banks have done what injuries prevented Mack Brown from doing, and what Charlie Strong and Tom Herman couldn’t quite figure out. The current regime has developed tight ends physically and inserted them into an offensive scheme that highlights the position when the right guy is on the field, which accurately describes how Helm and Sanders were used. Williams, however, is special because he's not a position conversion or an athletic project. Those types of tight end prospects have had varying levels of success on the Forty Acres for nearly two decades, all while multiple staffs tried to find a five-tool answer from the prep ranks. Jared Wiley was a high school quarterback who Herman converted to tight end. After transferring to TCU and enjoying a successful two years with the Horned Frogs, the Temple product was picked in the fourth round of the 2024 draft by the Kansas City Chiefs. Cade Brewer was solid for parts of five seasons with the Longhorns after making the transition from high school wide receiver to college tight end. Andrew Beck was a converted linebacker who developed into an ideal H-back at the college level, with skills that translated nicely to a career as an NFL fullback. A junior college gem and ferocious in-line blocker turned NFL draft pick, Geoff Swaim (a seventh-round selection by the Dallas Cowboys in 2015) was unearthed by Bryan Harsin. Devonaire Clarington was likely never making it to campus after signing as a part of Strong’s 2015 class. Texas couldn’t hang onto future Notre Dame and NFL tight end Durham Smythe when it had the Belton product’s commitment in the 2013 cycle. Considering those situations, along with sifting through the sea of for naught efforts to turn oversized wide receivers into the next Jermichael Finley, it can be argued that Williams is the best pure tight end prospect out of high school to suit up for the Longhorns since Blaine Irby, who appeared destined for stardom before wrecking his knee early in the 2008 season. Regardless, after swinging and missing on multiple blue-chip, out-of-state tight ends in recent cycles, Sarkisian and Banks have landed a prospect in Williams who has the potential to be everything they’ve been looking for and appears capable of making an impact sooner rather than later. View full news story

Sark’s offenses are at their best when they’re highly efficient on first down. I know that sounds simple, but in ‘23 and ‘24, Texas was one of the best offenses in the country at the percentage of first downs gained on first and second down. Sometimes, Sark’s best third-down offense is to avoid those situations.

The Georgia game is the one where it stood out to me. It was 14-10 when Texas kicked off after the Arch-to-Wingo touchdown and the Longhorns had a plus-6 edge in play differential. The next time the offense had the ball, it was 28-10 and Georgia had a plus-13 edge in play differential because of the 10-play touchdown drive where they converted a fourth down and moved the chains on a fourth-down penalty by Texas, the onside kick and then a nine-play touchdown drive. Georgia never faced third down on the drive after recovering the onside kick. For the defense to give up a long drive and then have to go right back out, it was demoralizing.

Georgia won its series opener over Auburn, 2-1.

Mississippi State just finished off an 18-11 win over the Aggies.

That sounds right, but I don't know for sure.

And Texas has the head-to-head tiebreaker over Alabama and Auburn.

Mississippi State leads Texas A&M in the top of the ninth in College Station, 18-11.

FINAL: Texas 6, Missouri 3 The Longhorns move to 38-12 overall, 17-10 in the SEC.

Cozart strikes out the side in the ninth. Texas wins the series opener over Missouri.

Patterson down on strikes. Two away.

The Irish Car-Bomb?

Peer goes down on strikes. One away.

Maddox Monsour has replaced Pendergrass in center field.

End of 8: Texas 6, Missouri 3 Sam Cozart is on the mound for the ninth.

Tinney's 18th home run of the season is a two-out, opposite-field shot to the right of the monster in center field. It's a 6-3 lead for the Longhorns with two outs in the bottom of the eighth.

BOOM! TINNEY GOES DEEP!

Sam Rosand is the fourth pitcher of the night for Mizzou.